Front U-Joint Question

X

xtremejeep350YJ

New member
1073810

The passenger side front u-joint in my 91 wrangler is bad, cant get it fixed till tuesday or wed. if i drive on it and it breaks will bad things happen? or will i just loose 4x4 capabilities? How hard/long of a job is it to swap it out? any special tools needed?

Thanks[addsig]
 

1073888

To swap out the u-joints isn't bad at all. The only special tools you may need are a hub puller(in some cases shops will rent these out) and possibly a large hammer(5lbs. sledge) to get the hubs back in. My first time only took 3hours, half of which I spent driving in and out of town to get the puller and then dropping the axle shafts off to get the u-joints pressed. Oh, the only other thing that I can think of off hand is maybe a larger socket for the nut on the end of axle shaft just before the hub, I'm taking this for granted since my grandad handed down some of his 3/4 in. drive ratchets and sockets. Hope this helped and good luck,
Paul[addsig]
 
1073897

Go to auto zone they rquire a deposit on these special
tools but you get it back when you bring the tools back... :-O [addsig]
 
1073909

don't use a puller... i know they make them just for that... but i have broken a hub using one of those... and when you break a hub apart... you'll need a new one, which is about $125.. instead... back the three hub bolts out about 1/8 to 1/4 inch then hammer them outward, using them as a punch to push the hub off... i'd suggest using a centerpunch or a socket so you don't ruin the heads... just hammer them, back them out, hammer them, back them out... etc... you may want a wedge of some sort to help you once the hub is somewhat off... it doesn't hurt to get some PB blaster in there and whack on it with a hammer to break up any frozen parts... it takes a little longer... but its worth the safety... i used a 1 1/2 inch socket for the axle nut... it is a little bigger than the actual size.. but at that size, a small amount is not big deal... and that way, the nut does not get lodged in the socket... and the Ujoints are in and out of the axle in under 10 minutes if you have a good vice and a hammer... best of it to ya[addsig]
 
1074087

36mm if I remember right for the axle nut. Ya what snitty said for driving the hub off using it's three mounting bolts, just don't mess up the heads. You can use a puller in conjunction with hitting the bolts, just don't overdue the puller or you'll pull the hub in half, not a good thing. Snug the puller, then whack the center of the puller a couple times as well as the hub bolts.

Funny thing is I just did this tonight, bought two used hubs and helped a friend remove them. I'll be installing them tomorrow night, been there done that.

Your Jeep could leave you stranded if the ujoint breaks, it will bind up and lock up the axle. Doubt it will happen, it will make noise for a long time before it breaks on the street in 2wd.[addsig]
 
1074215

actually breaking a Ujoint is REALLY tough to do... I thought i was gonna take the easy way on removing them one time by cutting them with a sawzall... but to my amazement, after ruining a blade, there was not even a mark in the joint[addsig]
 

1074278

I just did it today, it was really easy, didnt take the hub apart at all, just un bolted it, hammered it off and changed out the joint, all in all it took less than an hour.[addsig]
 

1075238

Cool I am glad you got it changed ....
now I might attempt changing mine... :-D [addsig]
 

1075261

tricks are stated above.. the bolt and hammer trick[addsig]
 
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